Gathering

As ordered, Alisha really 'took care' of him. Whether it was because she lost or because he was on a higher level than she thought, she definitely fought Nathan for real. 

Nathan was beaten to pulp. At the same time, he couldn't deny that his eyes closed themselves out of reflex when he was about to get hit.

The training gradually made him get used to it, which allowed him to gradually keep his eyes open. 

After that training, Alisha taught the basics of Ena Manipulation for an hour. He could use Deadly Claw because it was Fenrir's ability. He never understood the Ena Manipulation itself. 

He ended up using 'compatibility' as an excuse for his failure. Still, it might be because he could use Deadly Claws multiple times that he managed to learn it in two days. 

There was also an etiquette and dancing lesson, which was a bit annoying for Nathan. Nevertheless, he had made a decision to live as Vivian's student, so this was just the consequence of that choice.

…

One week later.

Nathan finally arrived at his dorm. Due to the school's rules, he had to live alone in the dorm. Whether they were a noble or a prince, they were no exception.

Every person got a similar room. It was a small room with a bed, a shelf, a table, and a chair.

"I have expected it, but this is truly small. It is actually smaller than my room back on Earth." Nathan smiled wryly. "Well, this will be a perfect start for me. I'm not exiled from the dorm or hated by a lot of students anyway." 

As he placed his luggage, he grabbed the school uniform hanging on the wall. 

The school uniform consisted of a white shirt, long white pants, and a white blazer with a huge embroidered badge on the chest. 

"I have to attend the opening ceremony after this." He immediately changed his clothes and headed to the grand hall.

While heading toward the hall, he noticed that there were a lot of buildings around him, one bigger than the other. 

He had been walking for a few minutes, but he hadn't even reached the hall yet.

"Where is the grand hall again? Are you sure this is an academy instead of a labyrinth?" Nathan muttered while looking at the map Alisha drew for him. It was just a rough sketch, which gave him the general direction of where he should go. 

"Are you a new student?" An aged voice echoed from the right, startling Nathan.

"Y-Yes?" Nathan looked at the old man. He was holding a broom like a janitor. There was supposed to be nothing special about him. However, Alisha didn't only train him in combat but also woke up his survival instinct. And that very instinct was telling him he was dangerous—much more dangerous than Alisha.

'What is this? A hidden boss or something?' Nathan thought. He said, "Yes, hello. I am a new student. I'm wondering where the hall is."

"If you are looking for the grand hall, you should continue forward and take the right after that white building."

"Thank you." Nathan nodded and hurriedly walked away.

Fortunately, there was only one building right after he turned right. As soon as he entered, he could see about four hundred students. He couldn't recognize most of them, so they must be upperclassmen. 

"Hello. Are you a freshman?" A sweet lady approached him.

"Yes." 

"In that case, please go to the middle." She pointed at the seats located in the center.

Now that he thought about it, the seats were divided into seven. Six of them were located on the edge, while the last one was in the center of the hall. 

He thought about getting a random seat after making sure the blond guy who kept mocking him wasn't in the same row. In fact, he was the only person in this row like an outcast until a certain black-haired girl took a seat next to him.

Nathan was baffled. Someone like her would usually sit at the front along with other nobles. 

"Hello." Selena politely greeted Nathan. "I forgot to say it last time, but thank you for helping me."

"Oh! It's not a problem. Please don't worry about it." Nathan thought it was special, but it turned out she just wanted to thank him. 

Still, because they were sitting in the middle of the hall, Nathan could sense the gazes of others from all directions. In fact, he could overhear some of them.

"So they are the freshmen. There are a lot of famous students, such as August Reeves from the Blacksmith Guild. I heard that his first summon is a dwarf. He might be able to summon an elder dwarf once he gets stronger."

"Yeah. There is also Prince Rudeus, who managed to summon a cyclops. In the future, he should be able to summon a great demon." 

"We can't ignore Selena Ashton from that vampire family. If I'm not wrong, that vampire has the potential of a countess. It won't be weird if she summons a vampire Duke before she graduates."

"It seems that the standard of this year has risen."

"Risen? No way. I heard that there is a student who has the worst talent."

"Worst talent?"

"Yeah. During the awakening, he summoned a beast."

"A beast? Not a humanoid creature?"

"His talent couldn't even summon a goblin? How did he get accepted? Was his family a great noble?"

"No. He was from a normal farmer family." 

"What? Did he cheat or something?"

"I don't know. Maybe some teachers are just trying to use him as an experiment to see what's wrong with his body to make his talent the worst."

"Hahahaha! He won't survive in this academy for long."

"Yeah. He'll definitely be targeted by many."

"He'll be destroyed in the Summoners War."

Nathan remained calm the whole time despite listening to their nonsense. 

With a smile on his face, he thought, 'What a cliche conversation. I guess the reason why our seats are in the middle is so that the upperclassmen can observe us… or more like, observe their prey. Summoners War, huh?'